A Dream of A Rose
by AriaBrie
Summary: Auror Sirius Black wanted his career to be more dangerous and exciting. But he rarely had any cases and so far none had been exciting. With the aid of his best mate James Potter, Sirius finds himself on the Auror department's biggest case. The case takes him to America and turns his career and his love life upside down. And it all started with a dream of Rose Donovan. AU
1. The Case that Changed His Life

**Chapter One**

Sirius Black sat at his desk frustrated with his day so far; he had absolutely no work to do. He had been an Auror for over a year now and still had not received a major case or any sort of responsibility.

He thought to himself, there has to be something I could do.

He watched as the director of the Aurora department walked in. Mad Eye Moody was trailed by James Potter. Sirius sneered, although James was his best mate it annoyed Sirius how many more cases Potter got because he was smart enough to ask Mad Eye to be his mentor.

I should have gotten a mentor, Sirius thought.

James wandered over to his desk near Sirius'. Sirius tried to make himself look busy, but since he hadn't had a case in over a month he had no paper work to do or to look over.

"Keeping busy I see." James called to Sirius as he sat down.

"Bug off" Sirius called back.

He went back to pondering the gapping-whole that was his life. His career was going nowhere, he didn't speak to any of his family, but he did have his three best friends to make up for that, and there was no woman in his life to speak of.

Sirius was lost in thought when he saw someone drop a file on James's desk. He looked to see Theodora Donavan's face on the folder. Sirius felt all the blood in his body rush to his head so quickly he thought it might explode.

Sirius snatched the folder off of James's desk. "Why in the bloody hell do you have this file?" Sirius roared at James.

"Sirius calm down and hand me back that folder." James held out his hand, and then rubbed it over his face when he saw that Sirius wasn't handing anything over. "Okay, I know that you wanted this case Sirius but you have to be realistic. You barely have any field experience and the Donavan case is huge."

"It's not my fault I don't have any field experience. Mad Eye seems to think I'm some bumbling idiot that will screw everything up because he won't give me any cases."

James huffed and threw a quick glance at Mad Eye's office door, "I can talk to Mad Eye and see if I can get you on the cases. You can get some field experience and work a major case. If you don't screw anything up, Mad Eye will have to give you more cases."

"Okay, well go talk to him" Sirius motioned toward Mad Eye's office.

"I can't do it today Black. Don't be an idiot, if I ask on the first day I have the case he'll think I can't handle it and take it away from me." James said.

"He'll think that anyways. So go talk to him now" Sirius demanded.

"Maybe, but if I get some work done on the case before I ask he won't want to start the case over." James smiled at his own brilliance.

"Fine" Sirius huffed and handed the folder over. "But you have to ask him by the end of the week."

Sirius spend the rest of the day helping James with the case, unofficially of course. Although Sirius didn't want James to get all the credit for his work he knew that the faster they made a break the sooner he could be put on the case.

At the end of the day Sirius and James sighed with frustration they hadn't gotten any farther in the case. They knew nothing more than what was already in the file. James slid his chair back and stood up.

"That whole day was a waste" James said putting the file into his bag.

"Hold on just a minute" Sirius said to James, looking around. Sirius waited until everyone was out of the office. "Hand me the folder I want to duplicate it"

James pulled the file out of his bag with a quick glance around the room. Sirius pulled out his wand and duplicated the file. Sirius slipped the copy into his bag and James took the original.

"Got any hot plans for tonight?" James asked Sirius as they walked toward the fireplaces.

"I plan on grabbing something at Marty's pub and falling asleep with this." Sirius tapped his bag.

James let out a laugh, "I really don't understand you mate, you're young, and unattached. If I didn't have Lily, I would be out every night and all you ever do is sit at home."

"Bug off, James" Sirius said before stepping into the fireplace. He heard James laugh again before he was sucked up through the Floo network.


	2. The Dream that Didn't Make Sense

**Chapter Two**

Sirius braced himself against the bar. He hated using floo powder, but they couldn't Apparate into or out of the Ministry.

"You alright there mate." Marty, the bartender, asked.

"I'm fine." Sirius called. "The usual Marty"

Marty placed a shot of Fire Whisky in front of Sirius and walked to the back.

Sirius wasn't very much of a cook and he really didn't see the point in learning. He lived alone; he didn't need to cook. Every night after work Sirius stopped at Griffin, a bar run by Sirius' friend Marty, and had Marty fix him dinner. Sirius though about looking over the Donovan file while he waited, but thought better of it. If he was caught with the file there was no way Moody would put him on the case. Fifteen minutes later Marty returned with a grease stained bag.

"There you go mate. I'll add it to your tab" Marty called as Sirius walked out the door.

Sirius lived only two blocks away from Griffin; the walk usually helped with the side effects from the floo. Sirius didn't care how much he used floo powder he was never going to get use to the sensation.

Sirius walked into his flat. He tossed his bag and food onto the couch and settled down with the Donovan case, preparing for a long night. Even if he got no sleep tonight he was determined to fine something for James to take to Moody tomorrow, some piece of information to follow up on. It still made Sirius anger to know that he would have to wait to get put on the case. He should have gotten the case in the first place. James already had two or three cases to work on, on top of planning a wedding with Lily, and Sirius knew everything about the Donovan case.

The Donovan family was one of the oldest and most prominent wizard families in London. Theodore Donovan was the heir to the whole of the Donovan fortune, until he took a turn into the Dark Arts. Theodore joined the ranks of Voldermort and became a Deatheater. His first public showing as a Deatheater ended in the death of an Auror, two muggles and his parents, Lyle and Noe Donovan. Theodore has been on the run since the murder of his parents without any money to help him. Before their deaths Lyle and Noe were able to rework their will and make their daughter, Rose, the heir to the Donovan fortune. Finding Theodore Donovan was made hard by the fact that he was a metamorphamagus and could hide in plain sight. He had been linked to many other murders and abductions since his parents' deaths. The murder of the Auror had Theodore set for the Dementor's Kiss.

Sirius shuddered at the thought of the Dementor's Kiss; he couldn't even imagine the pain that Kiss was. Sirius continued to flip through the file. There was a work up on Rose Donovan. The first thought he had when he saw her picture was that Rose had incredible eyes. They were incredibly dark and big. Sirius scanned the paper with her information on it. It came as somewhat of a shock to him that she had attended Hogwarts. Of course she was a year behind him and in a different house, but he was fairly certain he would have remembered those eyes. He looked and saw that her location was currently unknown. After another hour of looking through the file he decided that was enough for the night. He hadn't come up with anything. Sirius pulled himself off the couch and headed to his bedroom. He slipped the file into his nightstand and climbed into bed. As he drifted off he tried to keep thoughts of the case in his head. He hoped that he would be able to uncover something soon, but all he could see right before finally drifting off were Rose Donovan's eyes.

Sirius was standing in a dark alley. He wasn't sure where he was, but he was sure being on the street right now wasn't safe. With a quick glance behind him he slide into the doorway of a building and wedged himself against the door until it creaked open. A strong smell of mold wafted out of the building. Sirius' hand automatically went to his coat pocket for his wand, but it wasn't there.

"My wand" Sirius whispered. He turned to face the alley again hoping to see his wand lying on the ground. He couldn't see anything and for the life of him, he couldn't remember where he had been before the alley. Looking back into the dark building Sirius headed inside; he shut the door behind him. He waited in the doorway as he eyes adjusted to the dark. He knew he had to move carefully through the building; he didn't have a wand and he didn't need to come face to face with someone who did. When his eyes finally adjusted to the light he saw a door straight across from him, a staircase leading upstairs and a staircase leading downstairs, to what he assumed to be the basement. He wasn't happy about the thought of spending the night in a dark, smelly basement, but he didn't know where he was and there was no way he was going to stay on the street. Sirius slowly descended the steps to the basement. Half-way to the bottom his stomach tighten and he began to sweat. There was no telling what was going to be behind this door. Sirius' hand rested on the door handle, maybe he should go back outside and try and find his wand he thought.

He wasn't a Gryffindor for nothing, he had always been braver than he was smart, and he flung the door open.

He let out a sigh of relief, as brave as he was he was happy there was nobody in the room. He felt around the wall for a light switch and found one. He quickly closed the door before hitting the switch. He was a little surprised to find a person tied to a chair in the middle of the room.

_Oh great_, Sirius thought to himself now he was going to have to help this women before the people that tied her up come back and all without a wand.

"Shit" Sirius said aloud as the thought of his missing wand returned to him. The woman's head snapped up and Sirius stopped dead in his tracks. He knew this woman, he may have not remembered her from Hogwarts but there was no forgetting those eyes now.

"Rose" he called.


	3. The Break He was Looking For

**Chapter Three**

Sirius jerked awake. He had just been having the weirdest dream; he couldn't remember anything at the moment aside from an alley. He through a quick glance at the clock and saw the time, it was six. There was no point in even trying; he knew he wasn't going to be able to fall back asleep. He threw the covers off of his body and swung his legs over the side of the bed. Sitting up he reached for his wand and knocked the Donovan file onto the floor. The picture of Rose Donovan flew across the floor and his dream came flooding back to him. He was in the basement of a building on a street he didn't know and Rose was tied up in the basement. He picked her picture up and placed it back in the file. He wasn't sure what the dream was about or why he was dreaming about a woman he didn't know. He tried to put the dream out of his mind as he dressed for a run. All throughout the run he tried to keep the dream out of his mind, but it kept returning. When he returned to his flat to shower he came to terms with the fact that his morning was going to be plagued by the dream. After getting dressed for the day, Sirius threw a handful of floo powder into his fireplace and stepped inside. He banged his head on the side of the fireplace as a thought flooded his mind. Sirius stumbled into the Ministry of Magic coughing and holding his head.

"Bloody hell Black" James called as he held Sirius up.

"He's after his sister." Sirius yelled.

"What are you talking about, Sirius" James looked worried.

"Donovan that's what he's doing. He has to be looking for his sister." Sirius straighten up.

James was silent for a second and then a smile broke across his face. "Black you're a genius" James took off at run for the Auror department.

Sirius caught up to James in Moody's office.

"I would like to request that Sirius be put on the Donovan case." James said to Moody.

"And why should I put Black on anything?" Moody asked without looking up from the papers on his desk.

"Because we are both certain that Theodora Donovan is looking for his sister."

Moody did look up from his papers this time and fixed both his eyes on Sirius. He seemed to be waiting for further explanation.

Sirius stepped forward. "He has to be looking for his sister. Theodora Donovan is accustomed to living in the lap of luxury; even as a Deatheater he lived comfortable. For the past year he's been on the run without any money and that has to be getting to him. I believe that he has been looking for his sister, if he hasn't already found her, to kill her and regain the Donovan fortune and-"

"If we can find his sister and set an Auror to her then we can catch Donovan when he comes for her." James finished for Sirius. "I believe that Sirius should be the one to locate and keep watch over Rose Donovan. He is unattached, and can travel if need be, and he needs the field experience and this would be the perfect way for him to get some. I, on the other hand, am going to be married in a couple of month and won't be able to travel. I, also, have a couple of other cases to work on, but I will be able to step back in on this case anytime."

Moody's silver eye swiveled back and forth between James and Sirius. "Fine, Black if you want to be set on the case and want to be the one to babysit Rose I expect you to find the exact location of Rose Donovan and come up with a cover story."

Sirius was so excited he didn't know what to do. "Yes sir. I will get the information to you as soon as possible."

Moody waved his hand to dismiss Sirius and James. Sirius waited until Moody's office door was completely shut before pumping his fist in the air. He knew that later when he thought about this moment he would be embarrassed, but he didn't care right now he felt like kid on Christmas morning.

"I can't believe it was that easy" James said as he walked to his desk.

Sirius followed. "This is the biggest case of my life."

James had a worried look on his face. "Sirius you know that Moody is only letting you go as a glorified babysitter." James asked.

But it seemed as if nothing could dampen Sirius' mood. "I know but my name will still be attached to one of the biggest cases we have had so far and I will get field experience."

Sirius pulled a piece of parchment from his desk. James smiled and shook his head.

Three hours later Sirius dropped a piece of messy parchment on Moody's desk.  
"What is this Black?" Moody asked eyeing the parchment. The writing on it was barely legible through the scratched out lines and the ink spots.

"My cover story." Sirius was proud of himself. He had come up with a whole new identity at first, but thought better of it. His family was well known, as well as the Donovans and even if he couldn't remember Rose, she might remember him from Hogwarts.

"All it says is you had vacation time that you had to use up and you've never been to blank." Moody was staring at Sirius.

"Rose and I attended Hogwarts at the same time sir. She may remember me, so I can't have a new identity and I feel it would be best to keep it simple if she asks me why I'm where it is she may be." Sirius was very proud of himself indeed.

"Okay, are you any closer to finding the location of Rose Donovan?"

Sirius' smile faltered. "Yes I actually am sir" He lied. "I have, on very good authority, that Rose Donovan is no longer in London, and that she met with a Cleaner before leaving. I have a meeting with a Cleaner after lunch. I think this confirms that fact that Donovan is after his sister why else would she feel the need to change her identity unless she left that someone was after her." Sirius knew that Moody was impressed with his work. He was defiantly going to get more cases after this was over.

Moody cleared his throat "I guess you aren't completely incompetent, Black."

Sirius walked out of the office smiling. All he had to do was get the identity that Rose Donovan is using and from there it should be easy to get her exact location, Sirius thought to himself.


	4. The Interviews

**Chapter Four**

Sirius sat at his desk frustrated. Nothing had changed in the past month. He had been put on the Donovan case, but had gotten nowhere. However Rose Donovan had disappeared, she meant to stay gone. The best Sirius could work out is that Rose was living as a muggle because there was no way she could be living in the magical world and be this invisible.

"Come on Black think" Sirius said out loud and caught James' attention.

"Still aren't closer to finding her?" James asked.

"I'm no closer to finding her than I am to finding Theodore and she doesn't have the whole of the Dark side keeping her hidden" Sirius huffed. "Potter, if you were to disappear for the rest of your life where would you go?"  
"I'm not going to do your work for you, Black" James responded.

"First this is your work-"

"No I'm looking for Theodore and you're looking for Rose"

"And" Sirius continued "I'm asking because if I had to disappear for the rest of my life I would go to a place I have always wanted to visit." James nodded his head not really paying attention to Sirius.

"So you just have to find out where Rose Donovan always wanted to visit" James responded.

James still had not looked up from his paperwork. Clearly, he wasn't going to get any help from Potter, so Sirius turned back to his own desk. Looking at all the papers he had on his desk, Sirius decided it was time for another round of interviews. There had to be someone Rose trusted with her secret and since Sirius was not trying to kill her; he hoped that they would tell him. He began to compile a list of people that Rose would have trusted with her whereabouts. He came up with four people. Number one was her best friend Constance Slate, who currently lived in Nice, France. She never seemed to be available when Sirius wanted to speak with her. They had corresponded by owl throughout the case, but that was not good enough anymore. He needed to speak with her face to face. Then there were Rose's only living relatives, two aunts living in Surrey. Why Theodore hadn't come after them yet was beyond Sirius. Must not have a direct link to the money, Sirius thought, or Donovan would have taken care of them already. Then there was the long shot Albus Dumbledore. He was the headmaster of Hogwarts and he made a point of getting to know the students. If Rose was half as smart as she seemed she might have confided in the world's greatest, and most trustworthy, wizard. Sirius decided he should start his interviews with Dumbledore.

As Sirius was walking up towards the Hogwarts gates a sense of nostalgia hit him. Hogwarts was the best time of his life. Everything was perfect. He was able to escape his horrible family for nine months out of the year. It was nine glorious months of pranks and hanging with his best mates. Sirius was met at the gate by a house elf. Sirius wondered if he had ever met this elf before.

"Mister Black, Mister Dumbledore, asked Selma to take you to his office." The house elf said. Sirius took Selma's hand and they Apparated to Dumbledore's office. Before, Sirius could say thanks to the elf she had Disapparated. Sirius sat down in one of the chairs facing Dumbledore's desk. He knew Dumbledore liked to make an entrance. As if on cue, Dumbledore came swopping into the room with his ruby red robes flapping behind him.

He took his seat. "Alas Young Sirius Black" Dumbledore clapped his hands together. "What can I do for you on this lovely day?"

"Sir, I was wondering if you remember a Rose Donovan." Sirius asked. He felt uncharacteristically nervous. Being in Dumbledore's office wasn't any more fun now than he had been when he was attending school.

"Ah yes Rose Donovan. She was quite a gifted student. She was in Ravenclaw, just a year behind you if I'm not mistaken." Dumbledore answered.

Sirius looked in Rose's file to confirm the information. He didn't need to of course; he had already memorized the file front to back.

"Yes" Sirius confirmed. "You know all about the murder of her parents by her brother Theodore Donovan."  
"Yes, yes such a horrible way to lose one's parents."

"Did Rose ever come to see you after her parent's death?" Sirius asked.

This was the question that could make his case. If Dumbledore said yes then Sirius would have the location of Rose Donovan, but if he said…

"I'm afraid I haven't seen or heard from Rose since her parent's funeral." Dumbledore answered.

Well this interview was a waste of time, Sirius thought. "Thank you for all your help, sir" Sirius made a motion to leave.

"Sirius please stay seated." Dumbledore ordered. Sirius quickly sat back down.

"May I ask why you are inquiring about Miss Rose Donovan? Dumbledore asked.

"Official Auror business sir can't discuss it" Sirius smiled nervously.

Walking from Hogwarts to Hogsmead Sirius crossed Dumbledore's name off his list.

Sirius decided that Constance Slate was the next best candidate to interview.

Whatever business Constance was in must be treating her well, Sirrius thought as he knocked on her front door. Constance lived in an expansive ocean front villa.

"Nice place" he said as the door swung open.

The assistant that Sirius had first encountered when looking for Constance answered the door.

"Hello Ms. Watts. Is Constance Slate home?"

"I'm afraid not" She stepped back to close the door. Sirius placed his hand on the door to prevent her from closing the door.

"I'm going to have to come inside." Sirius pushed his way inside.

"You can't just come in here like this. Constance is not home and this is completely unacceptable."

"What is unacceptable is that every time I seem to want to speak with Constance Slate she is unavailable." Sirius felt like he had hit the end of the line. After a month of no answers and the time he wasted with Dumbledore, he was certain Constance Slate would have answers and he was going to get them, today. "Now I am assuming you have a way to get in touch with her, being her personal assistant. You need to let her know that she needs to get here now and speak with me."

She sighed; she knew she had no choice but to comply. "Fine, I will notify her. You can wait in the living room for her response." She spun on her heels and stomped into the kitchen.

Sirius moved into the living room and sat on the couch. There had to be a reason Constance was avoiding him and he was going to find out today. He stood up from the couch when he heard footsteps approaching. To his surprise Constance Slate stood before him.

"Hello Sirius. I'm sorry it's been so hard to touch base with me. But here I am. Would you like anything to drink?"

"I'm here on official Auror business, so I have a few questions to ask first." Sirius pulled out a piece of parchment.

"When was the last time you spoke to Rose Donovan?" Sirius asked. He saw worry flicker into Constance's eyes. Maybe he'd made the right choice coming to her, she obviously knew something.

"Umm let me think, I would have to say that was at her parent's funeral I believe." Constance fidgeted in her seat. "Are you sure you don't want anything to drink?"

"No I'm fine" Sirius said. "Have you heard from her since then?"

"I don't believe so. I moved here from London shortly before the incident and we lost touch. I haven't seen or spoken with her since the funeral" Constance was now staring at the back of her hand.

Sirius cleared his throat trying to get Constance attention. "That's a pretty long time for best friends to go without talking."

Constance stood up "I'm just going to the-"

She was cut off by Sirius' shocked expression. Before his eyes Constance transformed. There was a shorter, blond, rail thin woman standing in front of him now, Aveda Watts. He pulled out his wand and stood up.

He pointed his wand at the woman throat. "Who are you?"

"Calm down, calm down I'll explain everything. Just lower you wand" She said. Sirius inched his wand down so it was pointed at her chest. She fell back into the chair.

"Now explain yourself" Sirius demanded.

"Okay I'm not Constance Slate and I am crap at making Polyjuice potion" She said.

"I've got that much worked out"

"Constance Slate hired me to attend to her affairs while she was away"

"What?" Sirius sat down, but kept his wand aimed at the woman's chest. "Away where?"

"I'm not sure. I knew Constance when we were younger. She came to me about a year ago and asked me to come live here and take care of her house. I was very poor when she found me. I was living in a flat that I was about to get kicked out of and no family to help me. She came to my flat one night and told me that she was leaving, but she didn't want people to know she was gone. She told me I could have her house, a generous salary and everything. I just needed to attend to her life and if anyone came and asked about her to say that, she was away on vacation. Then I would just handle everything, so no one would notice she wasn't here."

This was a lot to process for Sirius. That meant that Constance was with Rose, all he had to do was find out where that was. "Did she tell you where she was going?"

"No she just said she was leaving and I didn't ask any questions." Aveda answered.

"If she asked you not to tell anyone then why did tell me everything so easily." Sirius asked.

"The truth kind of just floods out when you have a wand pointed at your chest"

"Okay I have just one last question to ask. Was Rose Donovan with her the night you spoke with Constance" Sirius asked.

"No she wasn't."


	5. Official Auror Business

**Chapter Five**

Instead of going back to the Ministry, Sirius decided he needed to go home and think through the information he had just received.

Sirius walked into his bedroom to find the Donovan file. File in hand he went back to the living room and flopped onto the couch. He summoned some parchment and a quill. Tapping the quill tip against his temple he began to think. Constance Slate was with Rose Donovan, wherever that is, he though. She and Rose felt they were in danger and they both disappeared. Well his hope that Constance would have all the answer was a dead end. Shuffling through the parchment, Sirius grabbed the interview list he had made. Rose obviously hadn't told Dumbledore where she was going and she had taken Constance with her, so the only other people it was possible Rose told were her great-aunts Mallory and Melinda Constable. Sirius checked the time. It was only 6 o 'clock, he was fairly certain it wasn't a bad time to drop in on the Constable Sisters.

The home of Mallory and Melinda Constable was not at all, what Sirius had expected. Sirius thought their house would be fancier, coming from a wealthy family. The house was a cobblestone shack with an expansive yard surrounded by a low stone wall. Entering the gate Sirius saw the yard was a mix of a garden. He could see a young whopping willow tree in the back yard, devil's snare was climbing up one side of the house and there were even vegetable plants mixed with alihosty and what Sirius believed to be bubotuder. "I really hope they aren't eating those vegetable." Sirius said aloud.

"Well of course we do dear, why else would we bother growing them?" one of the sisters said. She had come from behind the house carrying gardening tools.

Sirius laughed nervously he was not expecting anyone to hear him. "Hello Ms. Constable I'm Sirius Black I was wondering if you had a moment to answer a few questions."

"Is that the boy here to ask about Rose?" the other sister appeared at the front door.

"Yes actually I am here about Rose…How did you know?" Sirius asked.

"Why, Albus of course dear" Mallory or maybe Melinda answered.

"Come on in"

Sirius followed the sisters into the shack. Sirius was impressed; the outside of the house did not give a very good indication of the inside of the house. The house was huge inside. The sisters walked straight through the house and out the back door. Sirius followed suit thinking they could have just walked around the house if they were going to go right back outside.

"Well, sit down dear" Sirius plopped into the chair between the two sisters. "I'm Melinda and this is my sister Mallory" Melinda introduced herself.

Sirius was happy to clear that up. Mallory was on the left and Melinda was on the right.

"You are here to ask us about Rose correct?" Mallory asked.

"Tea, dear?" Melinda asked and poured him a cup before he could answer.

"Yes, yes I was wondering if you've seen your niece recently." Sirius was slightly frazzled.

"She's actually our great-niece and I don't believe I've seen her since our dear Noe's funeral." Mallory answered.

"Yes such a beautiful service. Poor Noe, such a beautiful girl" said Melinda.

Sirius was whipping his head back and forth between the two sisters and it was starting to hurt his neck.

"Excuse me" Sirius stood up and both sisters look at him. "I think this would go a little better if I sat over here." Sirius dragged his chair from between the sisters to sit across from them. "So you haven't seen or spoken to Rose since her parent's funeral?" Sirius asked.

The sisters seemed to grasp the seriousness of Sirius' interview and both nodded their heads no. Being the more outspoken one Mallory was the first to speak up. "No but that doesn't come as a surprise. After that no good son of theirs killed them I knew it was only a matter of time before Rose went missing."

"Do you believe Rose is dead?"

The sisters looked taken back by what Sirius had said. "No Merlin no we know she's not dead. If she was dead Theodore would have come out of the woodwork by now. We know our little Rose disappeared."

"Do you have any idea where she could be?" Sirius asked.

The sisters exchanged a look, and Sirius could automatically tell that the Sisters knew something. He was also fairly certain that whatever they knew they weren't going to tell him.

"Like I said we haven't heard from Rose since her parent's funeral. We just hope that she is safe wherever she is."

Sirius could tell this was the end of the conversation. Whatever is was these women knew about their niece they were never going to tell anyone. They would die before they put their niece in harm's way and wasn't that how family was supposed to be. Sirius thought of his own family. Not one of them would put their lives in danger for him. Sirius stood up; there was no point in staying.

"Well thank you for speaking with me today" Sirius began to walk towards the front yard, but he stopped and turned around. "I know that you are worried about Rose's safety and because of that you won't tell me what you know about her whereabouts. I want you to know that I do not mean her any harm. Theodore Donovan is very dangerous. He will eventually find her and he will kill her. I don't expect you to tell me what you know. You are doing a good thing for your niece and I respect that, but I will find your niece and when I do, I will do whatever I can to protect her." Sirius finished his speech feeling slightly better about his search.

The Sisters watched him as he walked a safe distance out of their yard to Apparate.

"I like that young man" Mallory said and her sister nodded in agreement.


	6. Witches Dressed in Black

**Hi to everyone that has been reading this story. I get so excited when I see that someone new has read it. I hope y'all are enjoying the story. I am very exited to be sharing this with people. I have never let anyone read my stories before. Please, please, please let me know how you are liking it and if there is anything you would like to see happen in the story. Enjoy!**

**Chapter Six**

The next morning Sirius' new hopes about his search had greatly diminished. He had no one else to interview and he was no closer to finding Rose Donovan than he had been three days ago, before the interviews.

Sirius looked up from the Donovan file to survey the room. What he really needed was a drink, he though.

Moody stuck his head out of his office and locked eyes with Sirius. He motioned for Sirius to come into his office and then his head disappeared. Sirius slide his chair back and stood up. This couldn't be good he thought to himself. Moody had expected results when Sirius had been placed on the case and even though it had only been a month, he had probably decided to take Sirius off the case before Moody stared to look bad. Sirius threw one last glance around the room, where was Potter when you needed him.

"Am I correct in understanding that you went to visit the Constable Sisters the other day?" Moody asked as soon as Sirius closed the door.

Sirius nodded his head yes. "I went to ask them about Rose Donovan"

Moody chuckled "Well they seemed to have taken a liking to you. They just sent me an owl that they are having a few problems with some fire crabs near their house and they want you to come help out."

Sirius was stunned. This is not at all what he had expected. "Wouldn't that fall under the Control of Magical Creatures Department?"

"You would be correct about that, but the man we sent from that Department came back ten minutes ago under the impression he was a six year old girl. They sent a note saying they will only have you." Moody laughed even harder. Sirius didn't really see what was so amusing about it. "Well off you go then" Moody waved Sirius off.

Sirius walked back to his desk to gather his things. He couldn't really understand what was happening. Moody had just sent him out to handle a pack of fire crabs, while he was trying to crake the most difficult case the Auror Department has ever had. He was fairly certain that he was going to get taken off the case. It was just a matter of when, he thought as he threw a handful of floo into the fireplace and stepped inside. In a matter of second he was standing in the fireplace inside the Constable Sisters house.

"Hello" he called out, but there was no answer. He noticed that none of the lights in the downstairs were on. "Hello" he called out again.

"Upstairs" a voice called back.

He looked towards the voice and found a winding staircase to his left. He walked up the stairs and found himself standing in the hall so long he couldn't make out the end. There were hundreds of doors from what he could tell. Thankfully one of the sisters poked their head out of a room and motioned to Sirius. He followed her into a room and was stunned for the second time in less than twenty minutes. The sisters were dressed from head to toe in black. One was standing inside a circle outline in white. There was a table inside the circle and a small book on the table.

"Sirius you showed us something the other day that we haven't seen in a long time. You have a truly genuine heart and we respect and appreciate that. We are prepared to trust you with our greatest secret and if you are willing to accept please join us." She stepped into the circle.

Both sisters held out their hand to Sirius.

He heisted for a second. He wasn't sure what was going on. Either these women were completely mental or they were about to tell him where Rose was. He stepped inside the circle.

Both of the sisters smiled at him.

"We can speak freely in this circle. Only those within can hear." Melinda said.

"You're instincts are very sharp young man. You saw right through us." Mallory continued.

"We do know where Rose is and we are going to tell you where she is because we know that you will protect her." Melinda began to open the book on the table, but Mallory stop her.

"Know that we are trusting you with our heart. We are asking you not only to protect Rose, but to stop Theodore so that Rose can return to us. Do you understand?"

Sirius nodded his head. He had no words. He understood what this meant to them. Rose had trusted them to keep the secret of her whereabouts. Them keeping her secret was the difference between her life and death and they were going to trust him to protect her.

Melinda opened the book on the table. Sirius looked but there was nothing written on the page. He opened his both to explain that he couldn't see anything, but he held his tongue. Melinda waved her wand over the book and the words began to appear. Melinda quickly ripped the page out and handed it to Sirius.

"Rose gave us this book. It will give her location and the identity she is using at any time. Read that and once you have it memorized it will disappear." Mallory explained.

Sirius read the page. Rose Donovan was living in San Francisco, California under the name Jade Rose North. As the information began to seep in, the words on the page began to burn into the page and soon the entire page was burned away singed the tips of Sirius' fingertips.

"We understand that due to your job there are people that you must tell the information that you have just learned, but please for our Rose's life choose who you tell wisely." The sisters warned before shooing Sirius out of their circle.

The past month had been the best month of Sirius Black's life. He had been placed on the Donovan case and made huge breaks. He had come up with a back story for being in America, as simple as it was. He had also discovered the identity and location of Rose Donovan. Sirius starred at his half empty suitcase and decided he might have to go shopping before he went to America. What did American's wear? Sirius heard a loud noise from his living room. He grabbed his wand and ran to find James with his leg through Sirius' coffee table.

"What the hell, Potter?" Sirius laid his wand down.

"Why do you have your table so close to the fireplace" James yanked his leg out of the table.

"I don't use it that much" Sirius laughed. "What are you doing here anyways?"

"Moody wanted me to go over the case with you one more time."

Sirius eyed James. "Okay, so he said make sure that bumbling ass doesn't screw anything up, but same thing pretty much." James laughed.

Sirius walked back to his room laughing. James followed and fell into the chair by the door. "So what do I need to remember so I don't screw things up?" Sirius began throwing things into his suitcase.

"Well he gave me a list of things to remind you of" James pulled a list from his pocket and cleared his throat. Putting on his best impression of Moody James started "Number one don't tell her why you are actually there, number two don't kill anybody, number three you are there to observe only and let me or Potter know at the first sign of Donovan, and the last and most important one is do not under any circumstances sleep with her."

"WHAT?" Sirius roared. "Why would I sleep with her?"

"Sirius I have seen the pictures of Rose Donovan. Moody is just being cautions."

"She's doesn't look like that anymore." Sirius countered.

"What do you mean?" James asked.

"Think Potter, she's trying to hid from people. If she went to these lengths to change her identity I'm sure she doesn't look the same anymore." Sirius explained.

"Good point, but I'm sure she still stunningly beautiful. What woman is going to choose to be ugly for the rest of her life."

Sirius closed his trunk and sat down on it. "I'm really not excited about babysitting her. I am going to become a friendly neighbor and that is it."

"I know you're not going to screw up mate." James stood to leave and Sirius followed suit. They walked down the hall to the living room. James turned to face Sirius when he reached the fireplace. "So now for my list of things you need to remember. Number one you are in America mate. Have fun."

Sirius laughed and James stepped into the fireplace with a goofy smile on his face and then he was gone. Sirius walked back to his bedroom and gave the room a quick assessment to make sure he packed everything. There was no second chances; this was the only time he was going to be able to prove he wasn't incompetent.


	7. When Sirius Met Rose

**Chapter Seven**

Sirius was standing in the middle of the American Ministry. Why the American's needed their own Ministry was a mystery to Sirius. A very severe looking woman walked up to Sirius. "Are you Sirius Black?" She asked

Sirius nodded. "Follow me" She spun on her heels and marched off in the same direction she had come from. Sirius hurried down the hall after her. She walked him through an archway and into the American Auror department. This room was considerably busier than its counterpart in London. Sirius wondered why that was. Everyone seemed to be running in twelve different directions. He sat outside the office of the head of the department, Franklin Fisher, and watched the hustle and bustle of the room. Finally Fisher peeked out of his office and motioned for Sirius to enter. Fisher followed Sirius into the office and settled himself behind his desk.

"Sirius Black" Franklin said folding his hands on his desk. "So what are you doing in my office?"

Sirius was thrown off for a second, he was sure that Moody would have contacted Franklin. As much as Moody hated Franklin, he thought Franklin was too young to be the head of the Auror Department and he complained about Franklin all the time. "Did Moody speak with you yet?" Sirius asked.

"Yes I received an owl from him not five minutes before I had word you had arrived." Franklin picked a piece of parchment up from his desk. "For some reason the English Ministry seems to feel that American Aurors don't know how to do their jobs."

Sirius was really not in the mood for a pissing match. He didn't think there was going to be any territorial issues starting this case.

"Now I don't want to turn this case into a pissing match between the English branch and the American branch." Sirius laughed to himself. Franklin continued speaking ignoring Sirius. "But personally I feel that having an English Aurora here protecting Rose Donovan is just going to draw more attentions to her. Now if you are correct in you assumption that Theodore Donovan is here looking for his sister. He must have eyes on the Auror Departments and is checking for any suspicious changes. I believe assigning an American to this case will bring less suspicion. Wouldn't you agree with me Mr. Black?" Franklin smiled across the desk at Sirius.

"To be honest I don't believe that Donovan had the time nor the resources to have eyes on every Auror and I do believe I would be the best Auror for this case. There is no guarantee that Theodore knows that his sister is in America. Her exact location is currently known by eight people in the entire world, Rose and her best friend Constable Slate who are the ones on the run, three others who cannot be revealed for their safely, myself, Moody, who I can assure you would gladly take a killing curse to the chest before divulging her location to Theodore or anyone that has connection to him, and you. Since I don't have much field experience no one is very likely to assign me to any major case. Let's be honest Franklin I am here to babysit and that's what I'm going to do; if I hear anything of Theodore, you and Moody will be the first to know." Sirius finished and leaned back in his chair.

Franklin mimicked Sirius and thought for a moment. "I would have to agree with you. Then I guess you will stay on the case." As if you had a choice Sirius thought to himself. "Well I guess you will be checking in here on a daily basis" Franklin began to shuffle papers around on his desk. "To keep appearances up of course."

Two hours later Sirius was standing in his new flat. He picked the one across the hall from Rose, better chance of meeting her that way. I should probably start thinking of her as Jade he thought to himself, don't want to call her Rose by accident. Sirius sat down and waited. She was at work and he had nothing to do until tonight. He didn't want to have to go back to the American Ministry; Franklin was starting to get on Sirius' nerves. Right now he needed to formulate his plan for approaching Rose. She would probably be wary of any one that she didn't know. Sirius sat on his couch to think. He would need to find a way of approaching her that didn't set off any of her alarm bells. He would be so much easier if he knew what she looked like. Then he could just hang out in the lobby pretending to get the post until she came around.

He glanced down at his watch. He had a couple of hours before Rose would be home and he would have a chance to introduce himself. He decided to use the time unpacking his apartment.

Sirius was jerked from his sleep by the rapping at his door. Damn, he though, when did I fall asleep. He crossed to his door and opened it.

"Hi I'm your…" the women's smile faltered a bit. "New neighbor, Jade"

So she did remember him. Sirius shook her outstretched hand. "Sirius Black" he responded. He stepped aside to let her inside. "Come in"

She heisted before entering the apartment. She surveyed the apartment quickly. She was here to check him out and Sirius knew it. "I was just with the building manager in the elevator and he told me that you just moved in today. So I thought I would stop by and say hi." She turned to face him. "Sorry I didn't bring anything I just got off work"

Sirius was impressed with her accent, either that was a part of the spell or she had spent a lot of time perfecting her American accent.

"No problem. I was just taking a little nap." Sirius chuckled nervously. This was not the way he had planned on meeting her. He hadn't had proper time to prepare.

Jade turned around to face Sirius. "We'll I'll let you get back to that. I see you still have some unpacking to do"

Sirius could tell she was just making excuses to get out of the apartment. It had taken Sirius all of five minutes to set up and bring everything from his flat in London to his new apartment.

Sirius followed her to the door. "I'm here on vacation for a while. But I have no idea where anything is. Maybe you could show me around the neighborhood."

Sirius could see she was struggling with herself. He hoped the yes would win out over the no, but all he could do was hold his breath and wait. Finally she nodded her head yes.

"Maybe tonight?" Sirius continued.

"I'm not sure about tonight." she said, she was desperate to get back to her own apartment and Sirius could tell. "It's been a long week." she chuckled but the smile didn't reach her eyes. She walked across the hall to her apartment. Sirius stared at her closed front door.


	8. The New Neighbor

**Chapter Eight**

Rose threw her purse onto her couch and kicked off her shoes. What in the bloody hell was Sirius Black doing in America? And he had moved in across the hall from her. Rose was freaking out. This could not be a coincidence, she thought. Sheer panic took over and Rose began to pack. She was full force into her packing when there was a knock at the door, grabbing her wand she went to the door. She looked through the peep hole to see her best friend, Sloane.

"Open the door. I can't get my key; my hands are full" Sloane called through the door.

Rose opened the door and yanked Sloane inside. Sloane dropped the box she was carrying and books slide all across the floor.

"What is going on?" Sloane asked as she straightened her jacket.

Rose whirled around to face Sloane. "Sirius Black is here" said Rose with an unsteady voice.

"What?" Sloane screeched.

"Yeah he just moved in across the hall"

"Calm down, Rose" Sloane grabbed her by the shoulders.

Rose was still panicking. She turned away from Sloane's grip. "How can I calm down when one of the people from my past just suddenly shows up on my doorstep?"

Sloane pushed Rose down onto the couch and sat down beside her. "He didn't show up on your doorstep he moved in next door okay. There is no connection between Sirius Black and your brother, is there"

Rose shook her head no. "As far as I know"

"See there you go, maybe he is just here on vacation or something. He might have gotten transferred to the American Ministry. Doesn't his family still hate him for getting into Gryffindor? Maybe he just wanted to get away from all the pure blood stuff in London." Sloane's words made sense and Rose was beginning to calm down. "Just keep a watch on him and see if he does anything suspicious. If he seems like he has any connection to you brother then we will leave again" Sloane suggested.

Rose nodded her head; she knew that Sloane was right. It was Sloane's idea to disappear in the first place. Sloane use to be Constance Sloane Slate. They were in Ravenclaw together. Once they found out that Theodore had gone on the run Sloane suggested they disappear too. Rose would never have been able to go through with it alone.

Sloane bent down to pick up her books.

"He asked me to show him around town" Rose said.

Sloane laughed at Rose. "He asked you out on a date? That sounds really sinister."

Rose laughed too, despite herself. "It might be. He might be trying to get in my good-graces and strike at the most vulnerable moment."

"Like when you're in bed together" Sloane joked. "It's more than likely that he just thinks you're hot."

Rose thought for a moment. Maybe she was overreacting. She and Sloane had been hiding for almost a year now. It was very likely that Sirius Black did just want to get out of London and away from his pureblood obsessed family. From what Rose could remember of Sirius from Hogwarts, he was very impulsive, picking up and moving to America on a whim didn't seem all that out of character.

Rose pulled herself out of her thoughts. She realized Sloane had left the room.  
"Either way I think we should steer clear of him for a while." Rose called out to Sloane. She heard Sloane shout back in agreement.

Rose pulled herself up off of her couch and walked to her bedroom. Her bedroom always made her feel better. It wasn't big by any standards, but it held just enough room for her. It held her large bed that was covered in pillows of all shapes and sizes. She always needs at least three to four pillows when she slept. Since she'd come to American she had just been adding more and more pillows to her collection, it helped her sleep. Sloane though it was weird that nothing in Rose's room actually matched, but she didn't mind. Rose loved her mix of metal and wood furniture and all the colors that decorated her room. Of course to someone like Sloane the room was a complete disaster. Sloane's room was a decorator's dream of cream and soft pink decorations and furniture. Rose sat on her bed and thought for a moment. Sirius Black had just moved in across the hall from her. It wasn't a completely bad thing, she thought, not that there had been even the slightest hint of Theodore knowing her and Sloane's location, but having a trained Auror across the hall from them wouldn't hurt in case he did ever find out. That would only work if Sirius was actually Sirius Black and he wasn't someone using poliyjuice potion. If he wasn't Sirius Black and he was someone else there to try and kill her and Sloane the slightest hint that she was Rose Donovan would prompt an attack from this new neighbor. Rose's head was starting to hurt. Her life was not supposed to be this difficult, she wasn't the one that had decided to go over to the Dark side and she wasn't the one that wanted the money and she shouldn't have to be the one who was in hiding fearing for her life, she screamed in her head. She wished her parents had never left the money to her. If she didn't have the money Theodore would never bother her, but no she was the one the money was willed to and unless she handed the money over to him, Theodore would always be after her. Maybe she should walk over to Sirius' apartment and just tell him who she is. If he was there to kill her than this whole ordeal would finally be over with. No, she though resolve burning deep in her stomach, as soon as Theodore had the money he would turn it over to Lord Voldemort and innocent people everywhere would die. She needed to find out if the Sirius Black could be trusted and if he couldn't then she and Sloane would just have to disappear to another place with new identities.


End file.
